Page 65 of Guided by the Stars
Today, however, she’s with me. I need to finish what I started in the kitchen.
“Daemyn showing you more secrets?” I call out through clenched teeth and creep forward, stepping into their view. “I thought you wanted to learn all of mine?”
Her head snaps towards me and the worried look she had disappears, replaced with a warm smile of relief that captures me. One look and she makes the worlds around become inconsequential. Every concern I have evaporates, giving me the illusion that we’re indestructible, if only I would let us betogether. It’s a false hope though. A tease that fate is dangling over us. Being around us only brings her harm, something Daemyn is forgetting.
With a heavy swallow, I peel my eyes from hers, forcing my stare towards him as he asks, “What did Aphrodite want?” He stands, taking a few hesitant steps towards me with a conflicted look on his face. He knows he fucked up, and pissed doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about it. I trust him, but whatever his reasons were to show her around Olympus, it was a huge risk getting that close to the Halls. He’s lucky the stars were on our side and Aphrodite believed that Nora was just Daemyn’s little girlfriend, no matter how much that pissed me off.
“Everything is good. She came with orders for an assignment of hers,” I explain, hearing Nora shuffle in the background and muttering something about being naked under her breath. She has no idea how strongly that cute little jealousy comes off of her. Moments like this make it difficult not to tease her.
Just as I open my mouth, Daemyn shakes his head at me in warning and refocuses the conversation back on Aphrodite, “When do you leave?”
“I’ll be leaving today. She has a reward to collect on one of the islands. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone,” I blurt out with the same unease creeping under my skin as I had when Aphrodite gave me my assignment. I know Daemyn is more than capable. Despite his fuck-up, there is no doubt that he would do anything in his power to protect her, even more so when I’m not around. Still, the thought of leaving her sends a sinking feeling of doom into my chest, and the fact that she will not even look at me right now makes it worse.
“Right, well, can we get the hell out of here?” she mumbles, standing and pushing herself past me, avoiding Daemyn’soutstretched hand. The anger in her voice is undeniable, emphasized by her refusal to turn around as we follow right behind her.
“Give her a little time. She’s bitter about what happened in the kitchen and Aphrodite. Can’t say I blame her,” Daemyn whispers before he starts questioning me. I try to focus, answering as much as I can about Aprhodite’s visit, however, my mind is distracted by the quiet girl in front of me. She’s a timid mortal, but she rarely holds back what she thinks. I fucking hate this silence from her.
“Enough, woman!” I jog up and pull her back by the arm. “We’ve got some time. Come.” I don’t give her a chance to argue and guide her along, leaving Daemyn behind. Whatever is happening in that pretty little head of hers, I need to fix it. With Aphrodite, there is no way of estimating how long this trip will be or the dangers we will face. I can’t bring myself to leave with her pissed at me yet again.
Once we reach Crystal Waters, I take my usual spot, sitting in front of the large oak tree, getting my ass wet by the damp grass. Nora, on the other hand, stands by the water, keeping her attention forward. Her eyes are locked on the small ripples the wind pushes across the water. “It’s beautiful here,” she whispers, keeping her back to me and folding her arms in front of her.
It is beautiful here with lots of memories. This is one of the few places Daemyn and I found to come to play as kids. It’s hidden in the lower level of Olympus, far away from the watchful eyes, and gave us a place to practice our water skills. Back then, we had no idea this area was designated as a gateway to Poseidon’s realm. We stumbled on it when we accidentally called upon one of his water nymphs. Once one showed up, more and more started to travel through. We wereall kids coming together, seeking to escape the pressures and responsibilities we had at home.
It didn’t last long before Zeus and Poseidon discovered what we were up to and they closed the gateway immediately. Zeus was enraged that I would stoop so low as to spend my time with nymphs. He took extra care in creating his punishment. For two weeks, he would pick new creatures to torture us during the sunlight hours. They were ordered to drain the life out of us daily, but that wasn’t enough for Zeus. At sunset, his lessons continued. He was adamant that I must learn my rightful position as his son and he forced me into an ultimatum. Either I would punish Daemyn, demonstrating who dominates his existence, or Zeus himself would strip Daemyn of all power, leaving him to rot in the dungeons.
Death would have been a better alternative, but even as a kid, Daemyn spoke of the power of his visions, believing his existence had a strong purpose, and begged me to torture him. The decision left me haunted. I’m filled with memories of his flesh burning as I marked him as my guard night after night, and the sound of his pained screams as my hands brought him close to death, just to revive him again. The only lesson I learned that day is that no one is safe. Anyone around me falls into the pit of this never-ending cycle of torment.
“What’s this about, Beast? Back in control?” The bite in her voice breaks me from my thoughts.
I watch as she throws a pebble across the water, still keeping her back towards me. “Alright you’re pissed. What’s going on?”
She turns on her heels and makes her way over to me. “So what happened in that kitchen just escaped your mind?” I smirk just thinking about it. Not a single part of me will forget how fucking perfect she felt coming apart with a simple flick ofmy fingers. My dick is getting hard just thinking about the little pants that came out of her mouth.
“Not that, asshole!” she blurts out, blushing, and runs her fingers down her messy braid. “We’re complicated, Alexius. I’m not understanding half of what you are throwing out at me, but you promised me something.” She sighs, her shoulders relaxing as she shakes her head. “You told me to trust you. It would be nice if you did the same for me. Every time you think it’s too much, you’re locking me in that closet, pushing me away.”
I nod, her words hitting me hard. I know our relationship is complicated and I’m fucking it up with every step, but I never intended to make her feel locked away. I am doing this to protect her. “Sit,” I sigh, patting the spot next to me. There is just too much at play that she doesn’t understand.
She eyes me curiously before caving. “Fine,” she huffs with an eye roll, and plants herself between my legs. Like a sucker, my hand lands on her arm, caressing her and enjoying the goosebumps that rise on her skin. If only I could keep my greedy hands off of her this wouldn’t be so hard, but with this secret, I’m sure it will be the last time she’ll let me touch her.
“You’ve seen way more than I wanted you to.” She shifts, leaning back further, and the smell of her lavender encases me, making this harder to explain. “I made a promise to share more. Can you be quiet long enough to listen?” I look down towards her with a twist in my gut. “After this, I’m betting those spying eyes of yours will never look at me the same.”
Her body tenses at my words, but she still tilts her head to the side, letting her sparkling blue eyes meet mine. “You need to get out of your own head. There is nothing you can say that will change—”
“Nora, just stop and listen.” I let out a low growl, warning her. “This isn’t simple for me. Everything here is about power,regardless of the consequence. Zeus and Hades especially. That’s how my brother and I were born.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a quick second and find the strength to just spit it out. “Kai, the guy Daemyn told you about, he’s my brother, Nora.”
She snaps up, pulling herself away from me and hissing, “What do you mean your fucking brother? You both lied to me!” My grip tightens, my body refusing to let her go.
“It’s complicated, love. Our lives have been separate since we were born. We only speak when I’m ordered to follow him in the Mortal World, and it’s never been more than a few words to each other. If there was even a minor chance that I thought he would have listened, I would have tried,” I explain and in an unsteady voice add, “the guy fucking hates me.”
I wait in silence, forcing my hands off of her as she silently gazes at the water. Guilt plagues me. The omission was to protect her, but by doing that I lied, hurting her. Yet if I had the choice to go back, I’m fairly confident I would have made the same decisions. Kai is family and, unlike what Nora is familiar with, family here always comes with a cost. Despite his hatred, we were trained as children to be enemies.
“We should go,” I say with an uneven voice, but she surprises me and shakes her head.
“No,” she says leaning back against me. “You’re not off the hook, you should have told me. Trust me, foster care teaches you a thing or two. I was lucky, but I more than understand that family cannot be chosen. It’s not only a god thing.” She shrugs, but her eyes narrow in warning, “But I swear, Beast, stop dropping bombs on me.”
I don’t deserve this girl.
“Then I guess I should finish the story,” I exhale, looking into her now-weary eyes. “You see, Hades and Zeus endedup infatuated with the same water nymph named Lileah. It escalated until one day she was forced to choose between the two. Zeus was furious when she chose Hades over him. To retaliate, Zeus transformed himself into Hades. Disguised, he tricked her and raped her, only revealing himself once he was done. It was his sick version of claiming victory.”
